No different from anyone else. That is the stark reality now at Notre Dame, and the Irish don't like it, even as they prove it true. They are an up-and-down football program, which only makes them normal, and they hate that so much they just fired their head coach, which only makes them coldhearted, same as the other up-and-down football programs.
Which can't stand it either.
Here is what athletic director Kevin White said after firing Tyrone Willingham on Tuesday, despite Willingham's winning record in three seasons at South Bend:
"From Sunday through Friday, our football program has exceeded all expectations in every way. Our academic performance is at a fever pitch. It's never been better. Ty has done wonderful things."
"On Saturdays we struggled, we've been up and down and sideways, a bit inconsistent. The program is closer than when he arrived. It's making progress."
Wow! Some would call that a positive job review, not the speech you get when they kick you out the door.
But Notre Dame is all about Saturdays now. Sunday through Friday is as meaningless as the marching band's song selection. Gone are the days when Notre Dame honored a man's contract simply because it was the right thing to do. Gone are the days when "student-athlete" was an equally weighted phrase.
The Irish are no different from anyone else now. They want more wins, more wins, more wins. Three years to them is long enough to judge a coach -- even if he had three years left on his contract, even if he won 10 of his first 11 games, even if he stood proud as a man of principle.
And so Willingham, who a blink ago was on the cover of Sports Illustrated as the man restoring glory to the golden dome, is on the junk heap.
And the Irish are shopping.
No different from anyone else.
http://www.freep.com/sports/albom/mitch1e_20041201.htm
Which can't stand it either.
Here is what athletic director Kevin White said after firing Tyrone Willingham on Tuesday, despite Willingham's winning record in three seasons at South Bend:
"From Sunday through Friday, our football program has exceeded all expectations in every way. Our academic performance is at a fever pitch. It's never been better. Ty has done wonderful things."
"On Saturdays we struggled, we've been up and down and sideways, a bit inconsistent. The program is closer than when he arrived. It's making progress."
Wow! Some would call that a positive job review, not the speech you get when they kick you out the door.
But Notre Dame is all about Saturdays now. Sunday through Friday is as meaningless as the marching band's song selection. Gone are the days when Notre Dame honored a man's contract simply because it was the right thing to do. Gone are the days when "student-athlete" was an equally weighted phrase.
The Irish are no different from anyone else now. They want more wins, more wins, more wins. Three years to them is long enough to judge a coach -- even if he had three years left on his contract, even if he won 10 of his first 11 games, even if he stood proud as a man of principle.
And so Willingham, who a blink ago was on the cover of Sports Illustrated as the man restoring glory to the golden dome, is on the junk heap.
And the Irish are shopping.
No different from anyone else.
http://www.freep.com/sports/albom/mitch1e_20041201.htm
